On October 18, the Office of the Great Lakes (OGL) officially rolled out Part 4 of their Water Strategy at a press event in Owosso. OGL Director, Jon Allan, spoke on the importance of water monitoring and the need for a long-term, sustainable funding source for groundwater and surface water quality monitoring. Friends of the Shiawassee, a river advocacy group based in Owosso and a member organization of MiCorps, hosted the event.
MiCorps program leaders, Paul Steen and Laura Kaminski, were also on hand to discuss the accomplishments of MiCorps over the last 12 years. The Water Strategy specifically mentions MiCorps as playing “an important role in supporting and contributing to state water management programs and achieving long-term outcomes.” The Water Strategy also recognizes that reliable funding is needed to continue MiCorps’ important work at the grassroots and community level. One of the stated outcomes of the Water Strategy is to “secure long-term funding for the MiCorps program and evaluate opportunities to expand the scope of monitoring activities” by 2018.
MiCorps would like to thank the OGL for their recognition of MiCorps contributions to the citizens and water resources of Michigan.
You can learn more or read the entire Water Strategy here: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135-3313_3677_76614—,00.html.
